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Tumblers of the Infinity Lock
The Tumblers of the Infinity Lock are a collection of devices constructed by the Computational Confluence Conclave that act in sequence to create stable phenospace storage. The Tumblers were designed to house materials too volatile or otherwise dangerous to store in their material state. Since their activation the Tumblers have been used as storage for phlogistonian inventions, politically sensitive documents and endangered treasures. Concerns over the Tumblers' safety and unstudied phenological side-effects led to the lock's dispersal in E7Y50. The resulting loss of access to the lock's contents has prompted considerable political pressure to reassemble the Tumblers. Concept Experiments on physical footprint reduction through phenospace-transference date back to the founding of the CCC, and the possibility of a more permanent storage device was theorized years before a Conclave conference proposed the construction of the Tumblers. The initial construction plan called for a unified machine, but redrafts addressed growing security concerns by breaking the Tumblers into eleven separate devices, each of which remained essential to the machine's operation. The final Tumblers were a dissimilar group of objects, ranging in size from a hand-held Control Baton to the massive Void Engine, which requires a full team of eight oxen to move. Originally called The Infinity Lock for it's theoretically endless storage space, construction engineers came to refer to the disparate pieces as tumblers, with each requiring careful alignment before the lock could open. The limited functionality of each Tumbler served as an added security precaution, as misuse of the lock's interface could cause cascading damage to the film between phenospace and reality. Activation The initial astronomical cost of the device was largely subsidized by the Flambeaux navy , who hoped to use similar displacement technology to deliver supplies to outposts overseas. In keeping with the Conclave's agreement the Tumblers were first brought together for their inaugural use onboard a Flambeaux dromon bound to a southern colony. A cask of fish was the first item stored behind the lock, with the intent that the contents' stasis would be proved at the end of the journey with a barrel of unspoiled fish. At the moment the Tumblers were resealed a surge of phlogiston (later traced to the Matter Recognizer Tumbler) shot through the device, immediately severing its link with the immaterial storage area. Many days passed before researchers were able to make repairs to recreate the link, during which time the extent of the machine's malfunction was revealed. Rather than store the cask as intended the Tumblers had somehow fused the lock with the conceptual biomass of the cask's contents and transferred the world's fish population into phenospace. Though Conclave engineers theorize that the fish are still in safe stasis somewhere within the lock they have been unable to find evidence of their transfer or current status. Oceanographers have since termed the event the Fish Calamity, and continue to monitor the significant ecological changes the malfunction put in motion. The continuing Zymotic-Abyssal Emergence is often blamed on the ocean's sudden lack of ichthyoid life. Use The Calamity resulted in a complete overhaul of the Tumblers' operation and the addition of a twelfth device, the Thaumatrope Stabilizer. With assurances of preventing any further mishap the Tumblers came online in E6Y601. Over the years of its operational lifespan the Tumblers were stored together and toured across several nations with a contingent of Conclave engineers to operate and maintain the devices. Several governments maintained long-term storage contracts with the Conclave, primarily storing items from national treasuries and reserves of currency. Phlogistonia notably transported nearly one billion bushels of grain from the mainland as part of its relief efforts during the revolution . The grain was inserted into the lock at more than a dozen mainland harvesting locations and delivered across Phlogistonia by a single ship carrying the Tumblers. Occasionally asylum-seekers have requested temporary storage inside the lock for safe transportation across national boundaries, and the Flambeaux's reportedly kept political prisoners in phenospace stasis for months at a time. Dispersal Doubts over the lock's safety – concerning both items stored within and the fabric of reality without – had been voiced since before the Tumblers' construction ever began. Beginning with the Fish Calamity a growing body of researchers petitioned for the Tumblers to be taken offline pending further analysis of their long-term effects. In E7Y20 a prominent anti-lock activist, K. Daghlian, proposed that he enter the lock with recording equipment to take detailed measurements of the interior phenospace environment. Though his equipment was recovered three days later as scheduled, Daghlian never exited the lock and remains lost in phenospace. Assistants to the expedition postulate that Daghlian's stasis-shielding may have malfunctioned from contact with other stored materials, and believe him to be safely stored, even if not practically recoverable. Daghlian's loss prompted a public outcry for the lock's destruction, with support from many Conclave personnel involved in the lock's design. A E7Y38 public statement by the Conclave admitted to a fundamental misunderstanding of the Tumbers' operation, and notified all lock leasees that the Tumblers were undergoing dispersal and any further object retrieval was impossible. While the Conclave came under attack for failing to provide time for removing stored items, outside analysis hypothesized that the Tumblers' suffered a fatal malfunction before dispersal and that lock access was no longer under the Conclave's control. The Conclave has not released any statements detailing the functional status of the Tumblers. Since the separation of the devices the Conclave has withheld the location of many Tumblers, and has stated in public reports that no one Conclave member knows the hiding place of all the Tumblers. Only the Void Engine and Ecto-Tunneler are accessible by the public, with both devices on display at the Talepesian Museum . Current Recorded Contents Among the contents trapped in the lock by the Tumbers' dispersal is an estimated 0.07% of the world's physical currency, and up to 0.3% of its precious metals. Notable unique contents include: *Fish (excepting lampreys, hagfish, and certain eels) *Charles Babbage's notes and drafts for the Haploid Analytical Engine *The only known remaining PlanetGrinder prototype *Alan Twala, last Eternal King of Kukuana *North-by-PostNorth Universal Tariff Act (ratified if unsealed) *Pre-Blight Epiphany Seedbank *Confluence/Talepesian Phenospace Signal Array *Costaguana National Silver Reserve Classified Contents Several governments and private entities have stored unrecorded objects in the lock according to individual contract with the Conclave, and it is believed a large number of these items remain inside. The Conclave has reported several attempts by former customers to burglarize individual Tumblers or notes relating to their construction, presumably as part of an attempt to reclaim their stored property. References Charles Babbage II Haploid Analytical Engine Computational Confluence Conclave University of Talepesia Zymotic-Abyssal Emergence